After The Show AU
by LostinalittleWonderland
Summary: 'I'll talk, but only to the one in the next room, the pretty one.' Sara's feelings when Howard Delhomme will only speak to Cath. C/S
1. Chapter 1

'I'll talk, but only to the one in the next room, the pretty one.' Sara felt her stomach drop when Delhomme finished his sentence, she knew he meant Catherine straight away. She knew that most of the lab and station thought that she hated Catherine, but that was far from the truth. She really didn't want Catherine anywhere near this creep. Especially considering he had already admitted to harming someone, his attraction to Catherine, Lord knows what he may do to her. Once outside the room Sara turned to Brass 'No way'

'Sara...'

'No! I'm not letting Cath do this'

'You're not letting me do what?' Sara flinched looking towards the floor as Catherine's voice came from right behind her

'He says he'll only speak to you' Sara's head shot up eyes shooting daggers at Brass

'Alright, he still in the interview room' Catherine went to walk past Sara before she felt herself being tugged back

'No' Catherine frowned looking back towards Sara

'No...What do you mean no?' Sara could see Catherine beginning to get angry.

'I...I...' Sara let out a huff before letting go of Catherine's arm and walking away towards the exit. Catherine turned to Brass; he shrugged his shoulders so Catherine quickly followed Sara out of the station. Catherine started to think that Sara had left to go back to the lab when she couldn't see her but something caught her attention out the corner of her eye. Turning to what had caught her eye she saw Sara sat hunched over on the curb near her car.

'What the hell Sara! What is your problem?' Catherine watched as Sara flinched and lowered her head further

'Just don't Cath...just not now' Catherine could see that Sara looked completely defeated 'I can't do this now' slowly sitting down next to Sara on the curb Catherine breathed out to try and calm down, seeing Sara like this she didn't want to be angry at her when there was obviously something going on.

'What's going on Sara?' Sara looked up towards Catherine her eyes slightly red before looking away quickly.

'Seriously Cath! He's a slime ball' Catherine couldn't resist the slight snort that came out at Sara's explanation.

'That is your reasoning...Sara I've seen worse before I even started working as a CSI' Sara flinched again at the mention of Catherine's last job, which grabbed Catherine's attention. 'Problem, Sara?'

'No, no...it's just...how he looks at you...' Sara's voice got quieter 'I don't like it' Catherine sighed closing her eyes before looking back towards Sara.

'Sara...'

'No Cath just listen to me...I just I can't sit back and watch him drool over you and treat you like some piece of meat...and what if he doesn't stop at Julie, what if you're his next victim' Catherine could see just how worked up Sara was getting over this, she moved closer to Sara before placing a hand on her knee, noticing how Sara jumped slightly at the touch.

'Sara this is my job, this is what I do, I can't just suddenly not do something like interview a suspect because you're suddenly uncomfortable with him. Nearly all suspects we deal with on a day to day basis are creepy. It just comes with the job.' She noticed Sara tensing up more and more as she spoke, she could also tell that Sara was rebuilding the walls that she let down.

'I think I need to go...' As Sara went to stand to leave Catherine quickly grabbed her arm bringing her back down next to her. 'Cath what...?'

'No, you don't just get to start this then leave...why do you have a problem with this all of a sudden?' Catherine was watching as Sara seemed to be becoming more and more closed off

'Sara...please just answer me. Please just tell me what going on.'

'I love you Catherine...I love you and that's the problem' Sara quickly stood up before Catherine had the chance to stop her. She got into her car and drove off, Catherine knowing that it wouldn't go down well but she just had to know what Delhomme had to say she picked herself up off the side of the curb and walked back into the station to the interview room.


	2. Chapter 2

When Sara got back to the lab she gave herself a few minutes to calm down before walking in, she knew her eyes were red. She knew she looked as if she had been crying, because she had been crying. She felt so nervous about how Catherine was going to react after she had just spilled her deepest secret to her. She had been falling for Catherine for a while now, and this wasn't how she wanted her to find out. Just as Sara walked into the reception she bumped into Nick and Grissom walking the other way, 'What's going on?'

'Catherine has spoken to Delhomme he's willing to show us where he's buried Julie'

'She did what?' Sara felt her stomach plummet, even after baring her soul to Catherine she still went ahead and spoke to the guy

'She spoke to Delhomme and...'

Sara turned round storming out of the reception to her car shouting over her shoulder to whoever was going to reply 'Just tell me where we're going and I'll meet you there'

[At the scene]

Sara stood back watching Catherine and Delhomme walking and talking, she didn't want to take her eyes off them just in case even though Delhomme was cuffed. She felt sick watching them; she really didn't feel comfortable with Delhomme being so close to Catherine. Walking over to Grissom while keeping her eyes on Catherine she couldn't help asking 'What are we doing?' looking to Grissom for a moment seeing him frown before looking quickly back to Catherine 'I...Is this logical? We have suspects picking their criminalists now'

'Well, we all want the same thing, Sara. Catherine may have a way in. It could be helpful'

'So this looks 'helpful' to you?' Pointedly looking towards Catherine and Delhomme, she knew that Grissom was right that Catherine had a way in and they needed to find Julie but she really didn't like Delhomme being all over Catherine. Afternoon quickly turned into night time as they were still wondering around in circles looking for Julie's body while Catherine and Delhomme continued to chat. After he was pushed into the car and Sara noticed his lecherous gaze at Catherine followed by his mouth twitching into a smile as the car drove away, it made her skin crawl and the green eyed monster flare slightly making her feel over protective of Catherine.

'Alright, at least we can hold onto him for a while'

'Well, the public defender may have him out on bail by tomorrow morning' Grissom commented turning to Catherine

'Meanwhile, we still haven't found anything. Now, did anyone stop to think this guy might just be nuts?' Finally Sara thought sighing slightly with relief at Nick's statement someone speaking some sense

'Well, until we find the body, he is all the evidence we've got' Sara felt so frustrated Catherine wasn't listening to anyone

'We don't even know if he did it'

'Oh, I've got a good feeling about this'

'So does the suspect. The only reason that we're out here today on this wild goose chase is because he wanted to hang out with you...' Seeing Grissom suddenly looking at her she looked down slightly her voice becoming slightly quieter 'It's weird'

'Believe me, I'd rather follow the evidence, but if it takes having the evidence follow me...'


	3. Chapter 3

Before being able to get any work done Sara needed to walk off her anger, well she felt more comfortable calling it anger. Walking into the break room she threw herself back into one of the chairs at the table and started flicking through the folders next to her before pulling one out opening it and finding the page she wanted before speaking to Nick who was sat opposite her 'I don't believe this'

'What does it matter? We're all on the same team'

'Nick, it was our case. You said it; you wait a career for a case like this. Puts us on the front line for a promotion' She knew this sounded shallow but she didn't want any of the team realising her real problem with Delhomme and with Catherine taking over the case.

'Let's just find her, okay?'

'You know what the worst part about this whole thing is? Catherine knows I can do this case'

'So can I'

'I would take you and me over Catherine and Greg anytime' She also knew this was a low blow, but that was something else she didn't understand. Why would Catherine pick Greg over her? She'd just opened up to Catherine and she was acting like it never happened and asking other people to help her with this case. Greg wasn't even a CSI he was a lab rat. She could see Nick's face register what she had said.

'She's got Greg helping her?'

'Yeah'

'Well, the only way to learn is by getting out in the field, and if Greg helps find her, I'm okay with that' Giving Nick a look over her papers, before going back to her papers. Sara and Nick worked in silence for a couple of hours before Sara thought she found something sliding the paper across to get Nick's attention

'Twelve missing girls so far over the last two years, ten of them found dead'

'How many were models?' Nick asked leaning over the table slightly to read the paper that Sara had just put in front of him

'None, except for this one, Robyn Knight, day shift found her skeletal remains six months ago'

'Washed up during heavy rains, Furnace Creek left in the morning for a photo shoot. Has a list of photographers in her day planner' Nick reached across the table to grab the folder Sara had gotten the piece of paper out of. Flicking through page after page till he got to the one he wanted and scanning over it till he found what he wanted 'Guess whose name is on the list?'

'Howard Delhomme' Sara let out a deep breath, she even more didn't want Catherine anywhere near him now but she knew no matter what she said would deter Cath from working this case especially now.

Moving to a lab to continue working her and Nick grabbed one of the laptops and started to search the Robyn Knight case. They had been working there for forty five minutes before Catherine walked in 'Hey' Sara and Nick continued to work, ignoring the strawberry blonde although Sara felt bad about it she needed to make a point 'How's it going?'

'Your case, you tell us' Sara couldn't resist the dig, it was out of her mouth before she could even stop herself from saying it.

'The odometer of the Maserati had 142 miles on it. The car dealer said that the vehicle had nine miles when Delhomme picked it up. That means Delhomme drove it for 133 miles. If you do the math, that make the search radius approximately sixty six miles' Sara knowing she would be asked eventually to input the details into a map started adding in markers as Catherine was talking

'Julie's vehicle was found in the parking lot of Dante's Pizza, off Boulder highway. That's what? Twelve miles away?' Inputting Nick's details into the map as well

'It's probably where she hooked up with Delhomme'

'So they hopped in the car and went to a photo shoot' Listening to Nick's idea Sara realised something was off

'If they did do a photo shoot and we don't even know that they did, where are the photos?' Just as Sara finished her sentence Greg walked into the lab. Sara looked back towards the laptop to calm herself before looking back to Greg

'I finished the DNA from the car. Matches the reference Sara got from Julie's apartment and the snack shop? It's the one on Granite's pass. I also found out what the household item was on the receipt' Sara turned back to the laptop to input the new data that Greg was giving them onto the map 'it was a shovel' Sara's blood ran cold

Turning back to Catherine before she spoke 'He'd already killed her'

'That explains the blood and the hair in the back seat of the Maserati'


	4. Chapter 4

After returning from Devil's Smile and finding Julie's body, Sara had to go to the toilets to calm down before she could work with Catherine. As Catherine had finally decided to work with Sara, even if it was digging through someone's trash. Sara's mind kept going back to her confession in the stations car park, why hadn't Catherine said anything yet. Mind you this would be the first time they had been alone since. Turning to splash her face with cold water the door to the toilets swung open, looking towards the door to see who had walked in Sara's shoulders dropped. Catherine walked over to Sara 'I think we need to talk, clear the air before we start working otherwise this elephant is going to be in the room the whole time'

Sara started to pat her face dry with a hand towel 'I don't know if I can Cath, not right now, not when we have to work together. Can we just move on and talk this through after shift?'

Catherine sighed 'Okay, breakfast at the usual place?'

Sara nodded while continuing to pat her face dry, throwing the paper towel in the bin and walking past Catherine to the toilet door 'So are you coming?' Catherine smiled slightly following Sara out the toilets towards the lab they would be using.

[In the Lab]

Sara was just starting to get to the bottom of the bag she was searching through when she an brown envelope caught her eye. She slowly slid the photographs out of the envelope flicking quickly through them 'There's a lot of head shots here'

Catherine looked to her side and slightly over Sara's shoulder 'Here's out little lie. Delhomme said that he took her out to photograph her because she had no more head shots. Needed new ones.' Catherine's interest in the photographs wavered as she began to root back through the bag again picking out the make-up remover cloths and looking at them before showing them to Sara 'Explains how he cleaned her up.'

'Doesn't explain why well here's her day planner' Sara started to read through the planner as Catherine continued to go through the rubbish bag 'Let's see, there's two things written in her book the day she disappeared. "Real Vegas Showgirl Producer's Dinner 7:00pm." And the other "Meet Howard, Dante's Pizza, 2:00pm." That would have given her plenty of time to get back for the producer's dinner.' She noticed Catherine fiddling with something out the corner of her eye.

'Here's her clothes' Catherine started picking items out the smaller bag she had found in the trash 'First thing you learn as a model, bring several outfits with you. You never know what the photographer might like' picking out a pair of black stockings Catherine noted blood spots on the bottom 'Here's our big lie. Delhomme said when she injured her earlobe, she was in her underwear and she was barefoot' Catherine held the stockings up towards Sara.

'I think Howard's been lying to you'

'Well let's have a little experiment shall we' Sara closed her eyes before stepping away from the table knowing not to stop Catherine when she got an idea into her head.


	5. Chapter 5

Sara and Catherine had moved to another lab to perform Catherine's 'experiment' Sara sat staring at a receipt they found of Julie's trying to ignore a rather scantily clad Catherine who stood next to her in a part of short shorts pulling on a stocking similar to Julie's when all that Sara wanted to do was stare at Catherine's bare legs which looked amazing in those shorts. '$65?' Sara looked up at Catherine shocked.

'Capital investment. Our victim hadn't made it to the show yet. Her life was all about after the show. The right guy, the right meal, and after that...' Catherine gave Sara a pointed look.

'It's a tough way to get ahead' Sara picked up one of Julie's shoes swabbing it.

'Did your father ever tell you you were pretty?' Catherine didn't notice Sara's slight flinch and her grip tighten on the shoe she was holding as she had looked back down to fix the stocking. Sara shrugged not wanting to look up 'I guess'

'He ever tell you you were smart?'

'Yeah'

Catherine turned to look at Sara 'So, it probably never occurred to you that you wouldn't be successful. If all you ever hear is that you're gorgeous, you can let everything else fall away, and it can leave you in a very dangerous place' Catherine turned to pick up a pipette of the metal table behind her holding it up towards her ear 'Okay, the bloodstain on the top of the foot is round. Gravitational. On the bottom of the foot, it's smeared'

Sara looked up from swabbing the shoes 'There's no blood on these. She wasn't wearing them'

'The only way we can get this guy is if the evidence counters every one of his lies' Catherine then released a drop of the blood onto her foot. 'That matches the drop on the top of her stocking. Separate bloodstain. Separate drop' Catherine then released a second drop of blood from the pipette onto the paper covered flooring of the lab before stepping onto the blood lifting her foot up to show Sara.

'She was standing' Sara said looking from Catherine's bloodstained stockings to Catherine herself 'that makes him a liar again'

'And there was no one to help her'

Sara waited for Catherine to change back into more work appropriate attire deciding to flick through notes while she waited that she had made about the case. So as not to be caught staring or end up with an image she couldn't get rid of for the rest of shift. Especially if they were going to have that talk. When Catherine had finally finished they started walking towards another lab to go through the recently developed photographs.

'She looks fine here' Sara passed across each photograph as she looked at them to Catherine 'and here, it's like she's not quite sure what's going on' Catherine looks at both photos 'then here, uh...'

'She knew'

Sara picked up picture after picture looking for what could have caused the damage to Julie's body. 'We have looked through every piece of evidence on this case. Whatever caused these abrasions is gone'

'Well, it's got to be here. We found this guy in pieces, and putting himself together ever since. If we don't find something, he's going to walk out of here and forget about this like a bad dream' Catherine looked up and caught Sara's eye just as Nick walked into the room.

'Hey y'all, I got something on the double-exposed roll of film' Nick grinned looking between both Catherine and Sara, Catherine turned to Sara nudging her.

'C'mon' Catherine followed Nick out the room towards the A/V labs being followed closely behind by Sara. Sara continued to watch Catherine out the corner of her eye as Nick set up what he wanted to show them.

'The odometers don't match' hearing Catherine voice drew Sara's attention fully to what Nick was trying to show them.

'No, on the left is you. Crime scene photo from the Maserati' Nick responded pointing to the picture

'What about the other one?' Nick had finally caught Sara's interest fully

'Well, it's unknown. Must have used a picture he already had for the double exposure'

'Guys, if it's a different car, maybe it's a different girl' Catherine could see Sara's brain ticking through ideas.

'What's on the rest of the double-exposed roll?' Catherine turned to Nick

'A female body, naked. No face to go with an ID'

Catherine sighed turning to Archie 'Archie, do you have the SART photos from the autopsy?'

'Yeah'

'We need to compare the bodies'

Archie pulled the photos up and started to go through them as Catherine started to shift uncomfortably. 'Um, why don't you guys take a break?' Archie looked towards Nick who shrugged at him, standing up they walked out the room chatting between themselves about something that Sara didn't catch.

'It's okay, these photos don't bother me' Sara walked slightly towards Catherine hoping to show some form of comfort to the older woman who was obviously uncomfortable. But Catherine looked her right in the eye before replying 'They bother me' Sara felt her shoulders slightly slump as well as a small ball of anger developing in the bottom of her stomach. Why was Catherine deliberately pushing her away with every chance she got? She let out a huff to let Catherine know she wasn't pleased about this but was going before leaving Catherine alone in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Catherine knew that Sara wouldn't have been pleased with her choice but she couldn't look through these photos in front of Sara, she knew how Sara felt about Delhomme and she needed to just solve this case so that her and Sara could go out and fix whatever it was between them. Catherine started flicking through the photos and comparing the two bodies on the screen until she was absolutely certain that the naked woman on the photographs wasn't Julie. Catherine got up from the chair deciding to go and find Sara. Sara spotted Catherine before she had even walked into the lab.

'Well?'

Catherine let out a breath 'the naked pictures weren't of Julie'

'So what? Delhomme fakes a bunch of nude pictures and sends them to his brother?' Sara was confused

'At this point I don't care why he did it. What do you have?'

'Nothing. Absolutely nothing. If he raped her with a foreign object, it is not on this table' Sara caught Catherine looking over the objects on the table in front of Sara and she could feel her blood start to boil, she could already hear Catherine asking her to leave the room so she could do it herself. Sara's word and work ethic now not being good enough for Catherine. She was starting to wish she had never said anything to Catherine about her feelings, wondering if that was why she was all of a sudden untrustworthy on a case.

'Do you want me to leave you alone so you can do it yourself?' Sara almost growled at Catherine

'Look the entire lab didn't need to see pictures of Julie's vagina plastered all over the screen'

'So, Nick and I are the whole lab now? That's not it, Catherine, and you know it' Catherine could see Sara was getting more and more worked up the more she spoke but she couldn't stop herself.

'I saw the look in Howard's eye. I used to make my living off that look. He wanted me. We needed him. I decided to exploit that situation and as angry as that made you, when you're in my shoes, you'll do the same thing' needing to distract herself from Sara's murderous gaze she reached for the gun case opening it.

Sara's look just got angrier 'I already checked that' but she realised that Catherine wasn't listening and had gone into her own thoughts while staring at the empty gun case.

'We're looking at the wrong evidence. His initial arrest was for brandishing a firearm.'


	7. Chapter 7

Catherine had figured it out, talked to Delhomme and Delhomme had finally been imprisoned - life sentence without possibility of parole. It had been close, if the guard hadn't been standing behind Delhomme she didn't want to think about what could have happened. Shift was finishing so Catherine decided to look for Sara, after all they had agreed to go for breakfast to talk things through. Finding Sara in the locker room sitting on one of the benches with her head in her hands, she slowly walked up to Sara sitting next to her quietly waiting for her to speak first. Sara could feel Catherine's presence as she walked into the room not wanting to look up. 'I heard what happened in Delhomme's interview' Sara's voice was quiet Catherine almost didn't catch what was said.

'Yeah he didn't like knowing he had been beaten at his own game' Catherine smiled sadly to herself knowing Sara still hadn't looked up at her yet 'you're angry with me'

'No..I'm not angry at you' Catherine could sense the edge in Sara's voice

'You are, you're angry at me' Catherine scoffed and looked the other way 'I haven't done anything wrong Sara you would have done the same if it was you that he had chosen'

Sara looked up and Catherine spotted that her eyes were watery 'I'm not angry Cath...I'm just upset... I..I told you at the start of this case' Sara took a breath, Catherine could tell that this conversation was probably not going to take the turn she hoped it would 'I told you...I told you that...that I..' Catherine could see Sara was struggling to finish her sentence.

'Love me?'

Sara flinched letting out a quiet laugh 'yeah that I love you' She stopped once again, Catherine realised that this wasn't the right place to be having this conversation and that it could also be part of the reason as to why Sara was struggling to talk.

'Sara..do you want to continue this..somewhere else? Maybe get that breakfast we were talking about?' Catherine could see Sara's shoulders relax slightly before tensing back up again.

'Yeah sure let me just grab my stuff and I'll be with you' she smiled towards Catherine the smile not quite reaching her eyes. Catherine nodded grabbing her own jacket from her locker noticing that Sara hadn't moved yet.

'I'll meet you outside' she tried to smile towards Sara but the brunette wouldn't look up at her. Walking the long corridors slowly towards the exit in case Sara wanted to catch up with her.

Sara stayed sat on the bench opposite her locker until she was sure that Catherine had definitely gone. Lowering her head again sighing to herself 'urgh stupid' she raked her fingers through her hair catching slightly in the curls at the bottom. Before standing up and retrieving her coat and bag from her locker breathing in deeply and releasing the breath before walking out of the locker room to meet Catherine outside. Slowing down as she started to reach the doors, she could see Catherine standing outside through the window on the door, her golden hair shining brightly in the sunlight. Taking a few calming breaths Sara continued to watch her before walking out the door.


End file.
